


Sacrifice the Body

by schneefink



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen, Hockey Gods, Ritual Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 10:58:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4916989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schneefink/pseuds/schneefink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before every season, the hockey gods demand a sacrifice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrifice the Body

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snickfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snickfic/gifts).



> See content notes at the end of the story.

Sid didn't know how Flower chose the sacrifices. It was a goalie thing, just like making the sacrifice was the captain's job. Every year near the end of training camp Flower came to him and gave him a name. Sometimes there were additional details, like the date or a specific item or a specific way to perform the ritual, but usually it was just a name, and the unspoken promise to be there.

The year Flower had come to Sid and told him the gods wanted Sid to drown him he'd been white as a sheet and shaking. Flower had said he'd try to keep his eyes closed. He hadn't succeeded. The image of Flower's panicked eyes underwater as Sid held him down followed Sid into his nightmares, and that had been the first and only time so far he'd cursed the gods for making him do this. Later he blamed that moment for the bad end to their season.

So when Flower came to him and told him it would be Olli that year Sid didn't comment that Olli surely had gone through enough in the past few months. He picked a time and day and told Flower and Olli. Olli took it well, all things considered. His voice was almost steady when he confirmed he understood.

The staff at CONSOL knew the drill and prepared everything as Sid requested, though he could see on their faces that they were uncomfortable with it. On the day of the ritual the arena was empty and dark the whole night. The only lights were pointed at center ice.

Olli arrived exactly on time at midnight. Sid could feel him take a deep breath before he stepped barefoot on the ice and walked to where Sid and Flower were waiting. He knelt down before them without raising his eyes.

When Sid had become captain Mario had slit open his arteries until he was standing in a pool of his blood that covered the entire logo at center ice. Then he'd broken Sid's ribcage open and cut out his heart. He'd made Sid walk after him into the locker room where he cut the heart into pieces and scattered them all over the room while Sid was lying on the logo and bleeding to death. 

While Sid was dead Mario had carved a C into his chest with the bloody knife. It was the only scar that had stayed. 

"I give myself to the hockey gods as a willing sacrifice," Olli said. His voice, though quiet, echoed around the rink, gaining resonance with every word. "I beg for their blessing for my team in the upcoming season." 

There was a charge in the air, and Flower nodded. The gods were listening. 

Sid motioned for Olli to lie down on his back. Olli was naked and he shivered when he lay down on the ice, but soon he wouldn't feel the cold anymore. 

The ritual knife was silvery grey and had the Penguins logo engraved on the hilt. Sid started with a long cut down each of Olli's upper arms and then cut two parallel lines on each of Olli's upper thighs. Then he cut three lines across Olli's stomach at a slight upwards angle. 

Olli kept his eyes closed and his body loose. Sid wanted to tell him that he was doing well, but he didn't want to destroy the silence. Instead Flower briefly took Olli's hand and squeezed it. Olli squeezed back.

Sid drew a bloody puck on Olli's sternum with the tip of the knife, then a stick, then a net behind them. Occasionally he had to run the knife through one of the cuts on Olli's stomach to get more blood on it. He could feel Olli's chest rise and fall. 

Finally the picture was complete, more exact and detailed than Sid could have drawn in any other situation. He sat back and closed his eyes for a second, preparing himself for what came next. In these moments he was grateful beyond measure that Flower was there with him. Sid opened his eyes again.

"I give the hockey gods a player from my team as a willing sacrifice," Sid said, his voice steady. "I beg for their blessing for my team in the upcoming season." Then he stabbed the knife deep into Olli's stomach.

Olli gasped in surprise and pain. His eyes opened, his body jerked, and Sid hoped Olli knew Sid would never hurt him if he had a choice, would never do any permanent damage, always wanted to take care of him… 

Sid twisted the knife, and Olli screamed. 

The scream rose to fill the whole arena. When Sid's internal count reached five it suddenly changed in volume, becoming wider and broader and bigger somehow, and Sid knew that it had been heard. The sacrifice had been accepted.

Sid let go of the knife and put his hands on each side of Olli's throat. For a moment he felt Olli's quick scared heartbeat under his fingers. Then his hands moved, quickly and decisively, and broke Olli's neck.

The scream stopped. Its echo continued, hanging in the air much longer than would have been physically possible.

It stayed for a long time, during which Sid and Flower silently sat next to Olli's corpse. The length of the echo was a good sign, which should have been more of a comfort than it was. Sid kept his eyes on the drawing on Olli's chest, but his hand found Flower's and they held onto each other until the scream had finally, finally faded.

Sid exhaled. He looked and saw that Olli's wounds were already healing: all of them except the stab wound were mostly closed. He pulled the knife out quickly and put it into its cloth, knowing without looking that the blade would be spotless. 

Flower made a questioning motion toward the locker room, but Sid shook his head. Olli would wake up soon, and it was better if he wasn't being carried.

Less than a minute later, Olli woke with a gasp. He tried to move but fell back against the ice, panting. His hands moved around his stomach, trying to find the wound.

"It's gone," Sid said. The arena's resonance was back to normal and his voice sounded quiet in his ears. "It's over. You're back."

Olli looked at him and flinched. It happened every time. 

"You did well," Sid continued softly. "The gods were pleased with your sacrifice." 

Olli lay back again and looked upward. If he stayed there he would start to freeze from the cold, so Sid nodded to Flower.

"Let's get you back to the locker room," Flower said. "Can you stand? Can you move?"

It took a few moments, but with Flower's help Olli managed to stand up and slowly walk toward the locker room. Sid followed a few steps behind them. He didn't look back at center ice once. The stains from where Olli's blood had run down his body were still there, but they would seep into the ice and be gone by morning. 

Flower got Olli under a shower and stayed with him while Sid sat on a bench and thought of nothing, trying to put the feeling of Olli's body splitting open under his hands out of his mind. He knew he wouldn't succeed. He remembered every detail of every time he'd had to kill one of his teammates. 

The shower stopped and Olli stepped into the room again. His skin was red like he'd turned the water as hot as possible. It looked much better than the white it had been before.

"How are you feeling?" Sid asked. 

"I'm okay," Olli said. He hesitated. "Can you… can you take your shirt off?"

"Sure," Sid said, surprised, and complied. 

Olli stepped closer, his eyes on the white C scar on Sid's chest. He reached out as if he wanted to touch it, but stopped an inch before the skin and lowered his hand again. 

He took a step back and nodded as if to himself. His other hand was on his stomach, but Sid didn't think he even noticed. 

"If the gods grant it, we'll have a good season," Olli said, with a hint of a question in his tone.

"We will," Sid said firmly. 

Olli looked him in the eyes and Sid knew they were both remembering the long moments when Olli was screaming and Sid was twisting the knife. 

"We will," Sid said again, and Olli nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> Contains: Temporary character deaths, deliberately injuring and killing another person for a ritual (cutting, stabbing), blood, mention of drowning


End file.
